Moves to legislate Ministerial Code of Conduct

The Australian Greens Democracy spokesperson Senator Lee Rhiannon will push for the Ministerial Code of Conduct to be legislated when Parliament resumes.  

“Until the Ministerial Code of Conduct is legislated, it serves as little more than political football between the major parties,” Senator Rhiannon said.

”Recent events have highlighted why incoming governments should not be allowed to rewrite the Ministerial Code of Conduct at their discretion. 

“Transparency, integrity and accountability are the cornerstones of a democracy and these important values should not be left up to the Government of the day or individuals to define according to their political agenda.

“The public have a right to expect that their MPs, from the Prime Minister to all backbenchers, will abide by the highest moral standards with regard to their use of Parliamentary resource and their conduct carrying out their job. Experience shows that these standards need to be legislated. 

”The Australian Greens will also amend the Lobbying Code of Conduct and will move to remove Group Voting Tickets from the Senate ballot paper in the next term of parliament, as part of a broad suite of policies to enhance our democracy,”  Senator Rhiannon said.

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